Pakistan Army clinched the top position in the recently concluded 34th National Games in Quetta, thus retaining the coveted Quaid-e-Azam Trophy after bagging 199 gold, 133 silver and 66 bronze medals - a total of 398.

WAPDA with a total of 290 medals finished second, while Pakistan Navy stood third with 109 medals in the National Games that were held after 19 years in Balochistan.

Quetta is located near Bolan Pass which is 5,500 feet above the sea level. Its dry weather with thin air and low oxygen level can make the life of any under-prepared athlete difficult during a serious competition.

Balochistan Sports Minister Mr Abdul Khaliq Hazara, DG Sports Baluchistan Mr Durra Baloch, IGP Balochistan Abdul Khalique Shaikh, and representatives of POA and all members of security agencies deserve kudos for making this event a resounding success in the current challenging security environment.

The presence of the Prime Minister at the inaugural ceremony and the President at the closing ceremony reflects the resolve of the government to promote sports in Balochistan, which was thoroughly neglected by the previous regime due to its flawed sports policies.

Teams and athletes of 14 departments and provinces of the country along with a strong contingent from HEC participated in 32 disciplines.

Some exciting events were witnessed during the games as well as brawls that dented the image of peace and friendship which should be a vital part of any sport competition anywhere in the world. The ugly incidents during judo, handball and tug of war must not go unnoticed and proper action must be taken against all those who were responsible for these incidents.

A bird’s eye view of swimming and athletic events and performance of the main athletes in these events reveals the state of our fitness standards and it is also a reflection of our chances in upcoming international sports events.

Olympian Bisma Khan of Army emerged as the best swimmer with 5 golds in the event. Olympian Haseeb Tariq won the 100-meter backstroke with a timing of one minute, 1.47 second, which is nowhere near to 55.86 (under one minute) of Srihari Nataraj of India, a find of Khelo India Scheme.

Haseeb also clinched a gold medal in 100-metre freestyle for Army with a timing of one minute, 1.47 second which can’t be compared with Asian best timing of 47.22 seconds of Ager Pan from China.

The major athletic attraction for spectators was 100 metre finals for both men and women. Army’s Naeem Akhtar, who hails from Chakwal, was declared the fastest man on track when he completed the 100 metre in national best 9.90 seconds and also won the gold in 200 metre clocking 20.7 seconds.

Isha Imran of WAPDA made people of Faisalabad proud when she became the country’s fastest woman by completing the final in 11.5 seconds, which is an improved timing from Naseem Hameed of Karachi, who won gold in South Asian Games Dhaka, where she finished her race in 11.81 seconds.

The two very prominent among the 6000 bright athletes from all over the country were 14 years old Mohid Sadiq Lone from Punjab who won gold in in 200-metre backstroke competition and Kishmala Talat of Army who created a national record in 25 metre women pistol event by hitting 582 out of 600 thus improving upon the previous best of 571 out of 600.

I also keenly followed the individual and team performance of HEC which finished fifth with eight gold, 17 silver and 93 bronze medals.

The high number of bronze is an indication of budding potential among the young athletes who were gathered by HEC on short notice from different universities across the country.

Good performances were witnessed from both men and women of Army, WAPDA and Balochistan in judo, wushu and boxing.

I witnessed with concern that a few athletes participated barefooted in a few of the track events. The reason was not the unavailability of proper running shoes but lack of training which was not acceptable at this level. A few athletes were under-nourished and a few were overweight. Some had basic flaws in their techniques and tactics.

President Arif Alvi promised to provide all possible assistance to talented athletes. This, however, may not be possible in the light of existing sports policy, which neither spells out our national fitness standards nor does it provide pathways to young athletes in education institutions, departments, and clubs.

No one knows where and when the 35th National Games will be held? No city mayor was present to receive the National Games flame as per the Olympic traditions. While we give full marks to Quetta for smooth conduct of the games in the challenging environment, we hope that the next National Games will be even better organised, and the athletes will come better prepared to improve upon their personal records.

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